ALL CAPS IS CRUISE CONTROL FOR COOL Pt.2!

by Katie - The Nerdgirl on March 9, 2010

Awh, you didn’t actually think I was going to let you forget about ALL CAPS, did you? No, ladies and…well, mostly ladies, the interview didn’t stop there. And I’ve saved some of my favorite questions for last. So let’s take another look at the electropop duo that I’ve fallen in love with and see what they have to say, shall we?

ALL CAPS

ALL CAPS

Every Girl Blog: If you had to take one uber-nerdy thing mentioned one of your songs and adopt it into your own life, what would it be?
Kristina Horner: I’d take the theme from “Saved” and make it a reality. Especially being in a long distance relationship, it would be awesome to be able to freeze the moments when we’re together to go back to whenever we want when we’re apart. :)
Luke Conard: Hah… what do you mean… those songs ARE about my life. Haha. Hmmm… I mean, I really like the idea behind “Saved”. being able to save your life anywhere, anytime, and go back. My friend Jace came up with the idea of that song, and I think it’s the best track on “Songs in the Key of E-Mail”.

EGB: Has being in wrock bands carried over into this musical project at all? How so?
KH: Absolutely. Our music is still nerdy, and I’d say about half of it would still fall under the category of “themed music”. We also do a lot of music-related stuff on the Internet, which is definitely something we’re both used to from wizard rock. Also, we never would have met without wizard rock!
LC: Having written around half of the Ministry of Magic songs, my experience writing those three albums definitely carried over to ALL CAPS. And I feel as though I have improved as a producer and song writer over the years. So, if it wasn’t for MoM, ALL CAPS probably never would have happened.

EGB: Has ALL CAPS been easier to orchestrate than your respective wrock bands?
KH: I don’t know, I would say they’re pretty comparable. It’s hard sometimes writing music long distance with Luke, and that was never an issue with the Parselmouths. But working with Luke is amazing; I’ve never had the pleasure of writing music with as hard a worker as Luke before.
LC: Yes. With Ministry of Magic, I feel like the five of us have our strengths and we are all really good at what we do. But sometimes, those strengths overlap. Not that there have ever been any big conflicts, but with ALL CAPS, I have much more breathing room when it comes to creative control.

EGB: What’s one of the biggest challenges you’ve faced in making music and getting it into the public?
KH: I’ve been really lucky, I feel. Wizard rock, and my timing in joining the community, was a huge blessing. People took to our music instantly, and because of that, I was able to grow my audience online in the last 3-4 years. ALL CAPS came at a great time for me to really utilize that audience, and luckily for Luke and I, they mostly all seem to really like what we’re doing.
LC: This has been something I feel like I’ve been lucky with. I know many bands find it hard to get their music recognized, but with me – I mostly have been creating music for the last 3 years in hopes that people will find what I’ve created on the social media sites that are available – and it seems to have worked. And when I say “worked”, I mean that the people that I feel would enjoy my music have found it.

EGB: Do you have a favorite track about B/minE? What is it?
KH: Hmmm. Probably “World of Warcraft Ruined My Life”. It has just the right amount of humor and personal experience.
LC: That actually has been changing around recently. Our unreleased track 1, “World of Warcraft Ruined My Life” is going to be a fan favorite in my opinion. Hank Green recently danced to track 2, “Don’t Unplug Me” in his newest video and I think that one has the most “hook” to it… but I am going to go with track 9, “Delete You”. Not sure how much I should say about this song yet, because it is kind of a secret. But it’s my favorite. I’ve never heard a nice girl like Kristina sing with so much anger. It’s freaking AWESOME. Plus it’s right after my angry song on the album, track 8, “Happy”.

EGB: What’s the biggest difference or improvement between Songs In The Key Of E-mail and B/minE?
KH: I think the BIGGEST difference is that Luke and I are dating now, whereas we weren’t in Songs in the Key, and somehow that has mad our music (in my opinion) a lot more personal. We spend a lot more time talking and hanging out than we did during our last album, and I think that translates over in our music. You can almost tell we’re closer by how much better we’ve gotten at collaborating. Although, that may just be the romantic in me, haha.
LC: Kristina has a MUCH bigger voice in B/minE as opposed to Songs in the Key of E-Mail. She wrote a lot more of the lyrics, helped write the music, weighed in heavily on how she wanted each song to sound, and sometimes wrote the entire song herself. Also, all of the songs on the album either have videos we’ve created on Youtube for them, or we have videos slated for a near release date for the unreleased tracks. As happy as I was with Songs in the Key of E-Mail, I am just going to go ahead and say that I think B/minE is my best piece of work I’ve ever released as a musician and I am damn proud of the work Kristina and I have done. I hope you love it.

Once again, you can preorder B/minE on DFTBA Records now, as well as awesome t-shirts, buttons, and stickers! The album will be released to the public on March 28th, and will be available on iTunes as well! Also, be sure to check out their Myspace to hear some of their songs.

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Novel: Flight of Fancy – Part Two

by Sarah - The Novelist on March 8, 2010

Book Cover designed by Ashley Crosby, at ashleycrosby.com

Book Cover designed by Ashley Crosby, at ashleycrosby.com

Flight of Fancy
A Serial Novel by Sarah Reck

On her twenty-first birthday, Elizabeth Saunders dumped her boyfriend, left her cat with her parents, quit her job, and hopped a flight to London. What could she possibly have been thinking?

Before you read this part, don’t forget to catch up with part one!

–

Actually, Adonis is probably not the right comparison, because Adonis infers a youthful pretty-boy I remember my mythology correctly. No, think—Hercules. Or better yet, think Christian Bale in Batman—dark-haired, serious, virile, masculine. Then multiple it by one hundred.

That’s a better description of the man sitting next to me. He is probably a model or an actor. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I think he looks pretty familiar.

I realize I’ve been staring with my mouth hanging open. All the blood is rushing to my face as I say, “Is something amusing you?”

Still laughing, he holds up a hand and shakes his head. “Have trouble finding your seat?”

I almost melt into a puddle of goo right there in my first class airplane seat because not only is he totally too hot to be talking to me, but he’s also British.

“This plane’s a maze,” I say. “Seriously, did you know there are two floors?”

He chuckles and holds out a hand. “I’m Wills,” he says.

“Liz.”

He shakes my hand but before he lets go, he leans over and kisses across my knuckles, like in those old movies. He keeps his eyes on mine the whole time.

I shiver over my entire body.

Matt, my ex, never made me feel this way.

“Welcome to first class,” Wills says, sitting back in his seat. “Are you coming or going?”

“Going,” I answer.

He smiles and shows his teeth, which are white, and only slightly crooked, not stereotypically British crooked.

“Are you from England?”

He nods. “Lived there my whole life. Well, excepting the six months I spent in Uganda, but II wouldn’t ever call it home.”

“What did you do there?”

“Doctors Without Borders,” he says, as if it was the same as a trip to the grocery store or an extended vacation in South Beach.

I read in a magazine—it was probably Cosmo or something equally as girly—once that a girl should keep a conversation with a guy focused around him, you know, keeping asking questions. Because have inflated egos and like to talk about themselves. “So you’re a doctor?”

He opens his hand against his armrest. “Was going to be, but it didn’t work out. What are you going to London for? Have a boyfriend there?”

I’m about to say that no, my boyfriend’s back in Wilkes-Barre but then I remember we broke up. Really, I broke up with him via email five minutes before I left for the airport. He really deserves better than that, but what’s done is done, right?

“Sore spot?”

I refocus on Wills, who has moved to the edge of his seat, elbows on his knees. He’s looking right at me.

“What? No, no boyfriend. Just broke up, actually.” I don’t want to talk about it. “Why didn’t the doctor thing work out?”

He shrugs. “Guess it was more what my parents wanted me to be doing and less what I wanted. Now, come on, I want to hear more about this boyfriend of yours.”

“I thought I said I don’t have one.”

“You said you broke up.”

“We did.”

“Why?”

I’m surprised that it doesn’t bother me that I’m being asked all these prying questions from a complete stranger. But I figure whom else can I talk to about it? That makes it sound like this big thing, which it isn’t. At least, not to me. But no one I know understands why I did what I did.

And Wills is asking questions in such a casual way, not like he’s being accusatory or judgmental. It’s probably just that he wants to know a little bit about the person he’ll be sitting beside for the next six and a half hours. Especially since he might have gotten excited to have the seat empty in the first place.

He’d have had somewhere to put his bag, right?

“I lost interest,” is what I finally use as my answer.

Wills’ raised eyebrow tells me I’d have to elaborate.

But I don’t want to.

To be continued…

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The Oscars: A Lesson in Humility

by Danielle - The Diplomat on March 7, 2010

I have to admit that I am somewhat of a noob when it comes to movie criticism. I would much rather watch something contemporary and sweet-as-pop (see Valentine’s Day and Avatar), than something artsy (The Secret of Kells, The Hurt Locker). My questionable taste notwithstanding, I am an absolute awards show junkie. I cannot get enough of them.

So, please take my assessment of the 2010 Oscars with a grain of salt. For me, it was truly a disappointment.

So very shiny...

I’m normally fairly critical of The Academy, anyhow. Having been close to someone who could vote, I understand all the gimmicks, the preference ranking system, the utter bullshit of it all. I always try to watch the Oscar’s simply for the dresses, and there were some phenomenal ones this year. My pick? Sandra Bullock. I liked the frills of Zoe Saldana and Up in the Air’s Vera Farmiga, but you just can’t beat silver and intricate bead work.

When it comes down to the awards themselves, I’m always skeptical of the decision process. It’s almost as if they don’t want the most popular, the most innovative, films to win. It is with this in mind that I tip my hat to the Academy briefly, for allowing Christoph Waltz of Inglorious Basterds to win Best Supporting Actor, and Up to win Best Animated Film. Kudos for not having everything totally backwards.

The Oscars this year was truly a lesson in humility. Take, for example, Sandra Bullock’s flawless acceptance speech for her Best Actress win. While I adore Sandra, I have to wonder if the Academy is deaf, dumb, and blind. Sixteen nominations and only TWO wins for Meryl Streep? Honestly, people. Honestly.

As though that weren’t disappointing enough, we have this year’s best picture… Kathryn Bigelow’s Best Director acceptance speech was lesson number two in humility. I am very excited for her, and exceedingly happy that a woman finally won the award.

Unfortunately, this leads us directly into lesson number three. Apparently, despite the incentive to inflate one’s ego, you cannot admit to having a giant ego, a brilliant vision, and an innovative mind. At least, not in Hollywood. I can think of no other reason why Avatar lost to The Hurt Locker. The 3D technology James Cameron pioneered is groundbreaking, world changing, and the only reason why any film deserves to win The Best Picture at the Oscars. Ever.

So, I give you the three lessons in humility, which I learned from watching the Oscars. I think I’d rather just have an awards show that made some sort of sense. And also – what was Neil Patrick Harris doing there?

Did you watch the Oscars? What did You think?

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Support a Cause: A Mission for (Re)Discovery

Post image for Support a Cause: A Mission for (Re)Discovery

by Aisandra - the Mad Scientist on March 5, 2010

On most days, I love being an adult.  I cherish the freedom I have to choose my own career, my own hobbies, and my own shopping days.  This lack of restriction still shocks and awes me…but sometimes, on weeks like this one, I realize that something is missing.

With every year I spend as an adult, I come a little closer to forgetting what it felt like to be a child.  I can still vaguely remember the feeling of unbridled excitement and amazement that I would feel when I walked into a theme park or a children’s museum decades ago, but I no longer experience those feelings with the same intensity.  Sometimes I wonder if the knowledge I’ve acquired over the years has just pushed the potential for sheer amazement from my mind.  And I often ask myself, “Is it possible, as an adult, to look at the world with the eyes of a child?”

In search of the answer to that question, I began to retrace the footsteps of my childhood.  Last week, after several failed expeditions, my mission landed me in Oregon’s Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI).  I chose that place because I haunted science museums as a child.  I was always fascinated by the illusions of light and bubbling chemicals I found there.  I loved to watch the stars light up in constellations in the planetarium, and more than anything I loved the feeling of flying into far away world in the IMAX theater.  On that screen, I watched adults take on the greatest challenges of science and nature, and I often wondered what my own life would be like as an adult.  For many years, that theater was the only place where I could feel like an adult and a child at exactly the same time…and, astoundingly, it still is.  I’m a little embarrassed to admit that, during my visit, I burst into excited tears when I watched “Spirit” the probe land successfully on Mars (despite already knowing that it was safe), but I’m not at all ashamed to say that one other aspect of that film called to me.  Just after the credits, in plain, understated text was a message:

“Become a volunteer.  OMSI needs you.”

After just a little research, I was surprised to find out exactly how much centers like OMSI rely on the support of their volunteers.  One coordinator told me that volunteers contribute so many thousands of hours annually that they are the equivalent of more than 80 full time employees.  Their roles are many – ranging from taking tickets, to giving demonstrations, to building exhibits – but that help is needed now more than ever.  While families and students are struggling to find jobs and maintain an income, public centers are working overtime just to keep visitors coming and exhibits running.  As money dwindles, so do the presentations, the special programs, and free events that reach the most children.  Without support, the interactive exhibits (the ones that are most often broken) fall into disrepair, and museums across the country become graveyards of learning.  This is not limited to science centers.  Art centers, play centers, and history museums are also feeling the burn of limited support.

I am writing this article because I value learning and outreach too much to let them dwindle.  As young adults and twenty-somethings, we may not be able to keep school programs in the arts running, but we can actively step up to help learning survive in our communities.  I choose to volunteer because I know that my life was shaped by the experiences I had as a child.  I volunteer because I do not want any child to go through life without uncovering a dormant interest that has the potential to change her life, or without knowing what amazement really feels like.  And, I do it because, in time, I hope to redevelop that sense of amazement within myself.

This is my plea to all of you to do the same.

Which places impacted you the most as a child?  Do you still visit or volunteer?  Let us know!

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TV Shows Worth the Space in your Netflix Queue

by Ingrid - The Valley Girl on March 4, 2010

I 3 Netflix!

I <3 Netflix!

I’m a HUGE Netflix fan and now that you can stream live through your PS3 or Xbox 360 (and soon Wii!), it’s even better.  By far my favorite discs to add to my queue are TV shows.  I love love LOVE to watch episodes back to back and I find that it’s such a great way to catch up on shows I might have missed the first time around.  Here are some suggestions of personal faves:

  1. Beverly Hills, 90210 – When this first aired, my parents wouldn’t let me watch it.  They said that it was about high school kids who had grown-up problems.  They were right, but that’s part of its charm.  And, I’ve totally enjoyed watching it as a grown-up.  Tori Spelling isn’t near as annoying as you think she’s going to be.  Team Dylan, all the way.
  2. Melrose Place – After I exhausted the seasons of 90210 that have been released (we’re still waiting on season 10), I decided to make the easy switch over to the other side of town and check out Melrose Place.  Don’t tell anyone, but I almost love it more than 90210.  Maybe it’s because the characters are closer to my current age but I find it fascinating and perfectly dramatic and a little bit trashy.
  3. The L Word – With lesbians, Los Angeles, and love triangles, what’s not to love?  This show is FANTASTIC: probably one of my favorites of all time.  The characters are great and realistic and sexy and crazy.  Plus, Jennifer Beals (of Flashdance fame) stars as awesome power lesbian Bette.  Bonus!
  4. Six Feet Under – This was a creepy and beautiful show.  I would recommend, however, taking your time watching this one.  I watched it FAST – like 7 episodes a week – and I found it was kind of starting to get to me.  But, as long as you pace yourself, you’ll be sure to enjoy the great acting and the unique storylines of this seriously quirky family of undertakers.
  5. Sex and the City – In case you missed it, Sex and the City didn’t get all its hype for nothing.  The women are great – powerful, cute, smart, and even silly.  Underneath it all, it’s a show about friendship.  But if that’s not enough, there’s plenty of sex, fashion, and, of course, Mr. Big.

Have any great TV on DVD recommendations?  I’m always looking for my next favorite show.

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Movie Review: The Crazies

by Kayla - The Fashionista on March 3, 2010

The Crazies' latest poster

Click for the trailer on YouTube!

The movie opens to a scene of destruction on what appears to have been a quaint country town. Cars burned out, small fires and rubble littering the street –my eyes were searching for movement when the screen went black. A moment later, small white letters appear in the bottom right of the screen: TWO DAYS EARLIER.

Wait, what?!

This was the first of many interesting surprises, twists, and turns in the 2010 film The Crazies, a remake of the 1973 film of the same name. While I’ve never seen or even heard of the original, I was quite excited to get the opportunity to see this simply because I’m a serious thriller buff. I enjoy all types of scary movies but my preference is for psychological thrillers and those with creative scripting. While it isn’t often I find one that meets all of my standards, I am pleased to say that The Crazies exceeded my expectations and kept me entertained from beginning to end with a mostly unknown cast and a plot that while not exactly original was manipulated to perfection.

In brief and so as not to give anything away, The Crazies is set in a small town in Iowa, your picturesque Midwest farming community where everyone knows everyone else and their business and, when something goes wrong, rumors fly. The Sherriff, played by Timothy Olyphant, is investigating some mysterious happenings, one of which he’s directly involved in, and discovers a large aircraft crashed in a nearby marsh that feeds the town’s water supply. Said plane was carrying some very important cargo, which I won’t spoil for you, cargo which has now poisoned the water and is beginning to infect various members of the community. The government comes in to take care of the problem –special ops forces, anyone? –and you have the base of the storyline.

Add in a seriously creative scene in a car wash, a huge explosion, flame-throwers, and a pitch fork making a really unpleasant screeching sound on the tile floor of the local high school and you’ve got a script that in effect alone is a masterpiece. The words themselves are pretty clever, too –the deputy, played by the only really known actor in the movie, a rugged Joe Anderson, is simultaneously hilarious and pitiable at many parts in the movie, and much of his dialogue is to credit for that. The scenes involving the military are surprisingly realistic and while the movie certainly toes the line of cheesy, it’s never crossed. There’s also the fact that the movie could have probably ended at least five times before it actually did, but thanks to clever writing, each of these mock endings is punched with a twist until the actual finish, which holds perhaps the best twist of all –and one that really appealed to the dark side of my sense of humor.

Overall, even though there are moments in the movie that I’ve seen in other films and the usual scary popping around corners, etcetera, The Crazies avoids being completely cliché and breathes new life into a fascinating storyline. I would totally see it again, actually, and that’s pretty special.

Have you seen the movie? What did you think?

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PS, EGB Loves PostSecret 3/2

by Relyn - The Night Owl on March 2, 2010

Sometimes on PostSecret, two or more completely unrelated postcards actually end up connecting in some way to me. I like to think of them as personal messages meant for me; they always feels extra special whenever it happens, the way it did with this week’s batch of secrets:

As a child I used to dream of one day studying for my university degree at Oxford, but sadly enough I failed to pass the final stage of my application. I’ve come to love being at Manchester, and in some ways I do believe it has been better for me here, but I also wonder now and then what it would have been like if I’d made it there. The second secret is kind of like a reminder that sometimes it’s not so much where the degree I earn is from but what I do with it that will matter in the future, and that regrets aren’t necessary in this case.

What was your favourite secret on PostSecret this week?

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